Horse Isle: Legend of the Esrohs
by Paroapockinroo
Summary: About my character, Rema, based from an MMORPG called Horse Isle  version two
1. Chapter 1

An alarm clock rang out loudly in the background of sparrows' calls. A bursting ray of sunshine was just barely peeking its way over the horizon and through the girls bedroom window. Narrowed Isle was yawning all over, shaking the morning dew from its grass blades. The girl slowly stirred, flopping onto her belly and blinking her eyes open groggily to look at the echoing alarm clock. The time read 7:53 a.m.

Her eyes suddenly shot open and she jumped from her bed "Holy horse manure, I'm late!"

Throwing on some jeans, a red blouse, some old brown boots, she thrust open her clothes drawer, stuffing anything she could make fit into a small travel backpack. Another pair of jeans, a couple shirts, toothbrush, that was good.

Thundering down the stairs she threw herself into the kitchen, grabbing a toasted bagel with cheese and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Missy, come 'ere girl," the girl bent down to pick up a chubby groundhog that had waddled up to her, a parrot and white germen shepherd following close behind "Milkshake, Moon, an oh-hey Mom,"

"Good morning, Alice," Her mother yawned, her footsteps creaking across the wooden floor. Her mother stopped a moment, staring up to a clock on the wall "Shouldn't you have left by now, dear?" It was 7:56.

Alice shrugged, talking through the bagel stuffed In her mouth "I 'oke up 'ate, mom,"

Her mother just shook her head, her short blonde hair bouncing. "Well, wait before you go I have something for you,"

Alice sat up on the kitchen counter, while her mother rummaged upstairs, the groundhog squirming in her arms. She took her last bite of bagel and then handed the rest to Missy. The groundhog chewed happily, and Milkshake the parrot flew up onto the girl's shoulder. "Ace Heart!" the parrot squawked loudly in her ear, much like her mother did when she was angry. She laughed at the birds attempts in pronouncing the name Alice though.

Alice's mother finally returned, a somewhat large pouch in her hands and a large something else that was badly wrapped in brown paper.

"Here," her mother sighed, setting them on the kitchen table "For you, dear,"

Alice inspected the brown leather pouch a moment before finally opening it. A large sum of gold colored paper dollars lay within, shimmering horses galloped across the front of them. Each one had the little number '100' in the corners.

"Mom, you didn't have to do this," Alice gasped quietly "How much money is here?"

"Enough to get you along for a while," The women replied, tousling her daughter's messy, short brown hair.

Alice smiled, moved the money to her backpack, then promptly began to open the package. Her smile widened as she revealed a brand new Australian Saddle, complete with new fleece-lined girth and a breast-plate strap. The rich mahogany leather was perfectly tanned and oiled, she rubbed her hand across its smooth cantle.

"Well do you like it?" Her mother finally blurted out, wringing her hands.

"love it," she said, hugging her mother.

There was a silence and Alice glanced down at her watch. 7:59.

"Oh my Esroh!" She yelled, her mothers eyes narrowing slightly when she did "I have to go mom, my boat leaves in one minute!"

"Don't say the Esrohs name in vain," Her mother scolded in a whisper, kissing her daughter's forehead quickly "Now hurry,"

Grabbing her things, Alice rushed out the door and through the town square. A crisp, chilled breeze blew through her wild brown hair and the bellow of a steam engine could be heard departing in the distance. Alice sprinted faster, breathing heavily as the saddle weighed her down. She glanced behind her to see Moon galloping at her heels and Milkshake just the same, in the air. Then it struck her.

Missy!

Alice leaned back, her feet slapping the ground as she came to a stop. She looked back as the fat groundhog was just waddling around the street corner. Alice turned and ran back, scooping up the groundhog into her free arm as she shifted her saddle to sit against her hip. Sprinting ahead again, her lungs aching, she rounded the straight path to the pier. With one final bellow steam began rising from the shafts of the boat, water beginning to tread out behind it.

"Wait!" Alice screamed out through gasps of air "I'm here!"

Alice watched as a man on board the ship gazed out at her, finally stopping and waving his hands furiously up to the captain. The boat ceased movement. Alice stepped onto the dock, a sigh of relief rushing through her.

"Come on little miss, we don't got all day!" The man yelled to her, putting down the walk-plank.

Alice trotted up the plank and onto the boat, thanking the man as she walked past him. The boat jerked to life once again and the girl was off. Off to Plainton.

Alice sighed as she looked back onto her old home as the island was slowly growing smaller in the distance. A knot formed in the girls throat and she swallowed hard, begging herself not to cry. Sighing, she turned around and thought it better if she just didn't look back. Shuffling slowly across the deck, she headed down the stairs to the birth of the ship to find her bed hold. Halfway down the stairs she heard a female voice yelling, feet thundering up towards her. A blur of color streaked passed her sending her staggering and almost falling. Moon barked loudly and turned, thundering back up the stairs to follow the person. Alice followed Moon.

"Down Moon!" Alice yelled to the dog. Moon immediately dropped to her belly, looking at Alice guiltily. Alice looked up to see the girl she had heard before yelling at the man who had let people onto the boat. She stood menacingly at 5 foot 3, cornering the near 6 foot man.

"This is an outrage!" The girl screamed, waving a pamphlet in the mans face "My boat schedule says that this 8:00 ride passes through Desert Isle and goes to Marshy Isle when, as we can all see, is headed to Plains! What do you have to say for yourself! Outdated boat schedules…I never!"

Alice remembered the two bickering for quite some time, but her mind had drifted elsewhere. This was her first real adventure. Every second she was spent wondering, what if I can't do it? What if I need help? What If I get lost? What if, what if, what if…

"Hey, what're ya'll still doing out here anyway?" A voice suddenly broke her thoughts. Startled, Alice looked up to see the girl from before standing next to her. It was around lunch time by now, which meant two hours had been wasted in her mind. The girl had hazel eyes and wavy, armpit-length hair that was sandy blonde and she had khaki shorts and a green top. Also, she was barefoot and, from the sound of her accent, from the Desert Islands.

"Oh, um, nothing really," Alice said with a weak laugh.

The girl sighed and looked off the boat rail with Alice "Name's Adrienne Spade, but you can call me Drea. I'm from Dry Isle, and you can probably tell that. My first time off, what about you?"

"Oh, um, ya," Alice said quietly "I'm from Narrowed…My name's Alice, Alice Heart."

"Ace Heart!" Milkshake squawked from her shoulder again, flapping her wings.

Adrienne laughed "That's a mighty bright bird you got there, why's she call you Ace?"

"Oh, she can't say Alice quite right I guess," Alice smiled

"Well, I think that's a good name there, I guess I'll call you that too since its so unanimous! What do you say, should we stick together?" Drea held out her hand.

Alice thought for a moment. It would be nice to have a friend, and someone to get lost with. A heavy weight sat on the girls chest as she thought though. A secret that couldn't be kept much longer.

"Alright," Alice finally said, taking her hand "Friends,"

Dinner was nothing special and boat pulled up to Plain Isle port at about 10:00 p.m. that evening.

"Hey, Ace, wake up," Adrienne said, tossing the napping girl her backpack.

"What?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes in the dark ship hold "Are we here already?"

"Just be lucky you weren't me, I'm so freaking happy to be off this thing," Drea continued on "The ride here from Dryton was 2 days…" She trailed off, gathering up her backpack.

The two walked down off the pier together, squinting through the dark to spy the Plainton Inn. Walking inside, a warm hug seemed to be given to the two and they sighed. Wooden tables filled the room and there was a reception desk to one side with a door to a small kitchen behind it. By the staircase to the bedrooms was a large fireplace with a few cushioned stools next to it and a large grandfather clock sat against the east wall, across from a sparkling aquarium. The soft drumming of the clock mixed with the laughing of people at a nearby table and the purr of a gleaming black cat that ran up to Ace's side. It felt just like another home.

"May I help you?" A thin, quiet girl said to them at the receptionist desk "Do you two have a reservation?"

"No we do not," Drea spoke before Ace could "Be we were hoping we could book on short notice. Oh, and we aren't together."

The girl took a moment to look through a clipboard "I'm sorry, we only have one room available left, it's a small…" She trailed off, looking wide eyed for a response.

Adrienne grimaced, slamming her hand lightly on the desk. She looked at Ace in question a moment, the two didn't say anything.

"We'll take it," Ace sighed stepping up to sign some papers "And I'm" she looked at Drea "going to be paying,"

Adrienne put her hands up in one of those 'fine by me' looks. Ace signed the papers and then the two made their way upstairs to the room they'd be sharing. Walking into the bedroom the two flopped their backpacks onto the desk in the corner and changed into their pajamas. Ace smiled as Milkshake roosted on the desk-chair, Moon underneath the desk, and Missy pulled herself onto the bed, promptly curling into a ball at the end and falling asleep. The two then pulled themselves uncomfortably into the small bed and turned off the lights. Ace herself was just about to drift to sleep when Drea decided to strike up a conversation.

"I s'pose we should be packing up, getting ourselves some horses tomorrow." She whispered in the dark.

"yeah…" Ace mumbled sleepily, even though her heart had jumped at the mentioning of horses.

"I was thinking, you know," Drea babbled on "Ya'll hear about those famous ranchers…they just go out and catch horses right from the wild, like and train them by themselves,"

"That's nice, can you go to sleep now?" Ace grumbled

"Okay," Drea sighed quickly, shifting a bit.

About 30 whole seconds passed.

"Hey Ace," she whispered

"What?"

"Did your village have many horses? Did you ride a lot?"

Ace was silent, trying to think of an answer "Uh…I knew our neighbors had a few horses, and no, I didn't ride much because of uh…money," she trailed off

"Oh," Drea said, sounding genuinely surprised "I'm sorry,"

Ace didn't give any response but simply rolled over on her side to sleep. She couldn't hide this much longer…


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Ace awoke soundlessly, the chirping of birds and early sunshine welcoming her through the small window in the room. The smell of pancakes filled the air from downstairs and she could still hear the thumping of the big grandfather clock downstairs. She yawned, blinking open her eyes to look at the clock on the nightstand. 7:45.

Ace closed her eyes and stretched, rolling onto her back. Re-opening her eyes, she nearly screamed when a large, hazel pair stared defiantly into hers.

"Good morning ya'll!" Drea's loud, familiar voice rang through her ears.

Stepping off of the bed, already dressed and brushing her thick hair, Drea smiled widely at Ace. "You and me, we're gonna catch us wild horses today!"

Ace yawned, unbuttoning her nightshirt "You know, it could take more than just one day to catch a horse,"

"Don't worry, I can wait," Drea said quickly, turning and putting on her backpack, seemingly ready

"Um, aren't you going to put on some shoes?" Ace said, pulling on her red blouse and jeans

"Nope," Drea shook her head "Now come on! Those pancakes aren't gonna wait for us!"

Ace smiled, hearing her friend thundering happily down the stairs. Ace could've been excited, but she wasn't. Today, she was going to be out. Where there were horses.

Not that that was a problem, or anything.

Pulling on her boots and grabbing her backpack, Ace trotted downstairs, her pets following her. She looked out from the bottom of the stairs, the fire was dimmed low and many people filled the room, most in which she noticed, had small packs like her and Drea and wore jeans or breeches. The people laughed quietly, talking about their horses, how much they had to spend at the vet yesterday, all while one little server in a white skirt came around and took their breakfast orders. Dogs and cats roamed around the Inn also, a few birds too, all screeching and barking here and there in the background of the loudly thumping grandfather clock. Ace looked to see Missy, who had walked over and curled up by the fireplace with a few other cats.

"Breakfast!" Milkshake chirped from Ace's shoulder, clacking her beak hungrily.

Ace walked across the crowded inn and took at seat at the table Drea had chosen. Hot, spongy pancakes drenched in male syrup sat on a plate already at Ace's spot. Ace sat down, smiling slightly, and began picking lightly at the pancakes, while Drea had already inhaled two plates.

"Um, Drea?" she said after a moments silence "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, what?" She said through a full mouth.

"Uh um…never mind…"

"Hey Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you gonna finish your pancakes?"

Ace stared at her a moment "Here,"

Drea promptly inhaled the rest of Ace's plate of pancakes. Ace twiddled her thumbs as she waited for Drea.

"Ready?" Drea asked, swallowing a mouthful as she finished.

"Ready," Ace replied.

The two stood and headed for the front door of the Inn. Ace looked back behind her to see Moon following, but not Missy. The girl glanced over by the fireplace to see the happy groundhog still taking a morning nap. She chuckled, knowing she wouldn't go anywhere.

"Sooo…" Drea said biting her lip as she walked aimlessly, looking at the map of Big Forest Isle "We are…here…I think…"

"No we're not!" Ace protested, grabbing the map "We're right here,"

"No no, oh wait! I got it! We're…here?"

"No see, the dock is in this direction, you're holding it all weird, we're over here,"

"This is useless!" Drea shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

Ace snatched the map from her friend, confusedly studying the paper of endless trees. She sighed heavily and glanced at her watch. 2:45. They were officially lost.

"Well," Drea sighed "…ya'll still think we'll find a horse?"

"A horse? A horse?" Ace yelled "that's all your worried about! The horses? We could be stuck out here for who knows how long!"

"Sheesh you don't need to get all mad about it…" Drea whispered, glaring "…I'm gonna go set up a tent for the night," She grimaced after a few moments, walking off to a nearby clearing. Ace sighed and continued walking until her friend was just out of sight. Ace sat down on a rock, and held her head in her hands. What were they going to do?

Moon suddenly growled lightly beside Ace. "Be quiet, Moon," She whispered sternly to the dog. Moon barked, pawing at Ace's feet. "Moon, what do you-"

Ace suddenly cut herself off. Standing no more than 10 feet away from her amongst a pine tree and another rock was a real, live horse. It was black with a white spotted rear and face with skinny legs and a thick neck. Ace froze on the spot, her heart thumping in her ears as the horse nibbled at the pine needles. She told herself to scream, she told herself to run away, but somehow her mouth stayed shut, and her feet glued to the spot. This was Alice's secret.

She lived in a world focused around them, but she was terrified of horses.

Closing her eyes and swallowing, she thought, _what would any other person do?_

"Down Moon," she whispered quietly to her dog. The animal ceased its growling and laid down on her stomach. Now, very slowly, Ace reached into her backpack and pulled out a long, thick rope, A lasso. Taking a few slow steps forward she positioned the lasso ever so in her hands, just how she had been taught. She swallowed hard once again, the girl's mouth had gone dry and her tongue was rough and sticky. The horse stared at her intently with its ears forward, completely oblivious to what she was about to do. Ace closed her eyes, and flung the rope.

Not a single sound was heard, not a single stumble, or snort, or hoof beat. What had happened? Had she done it? Slowly and timidly, Ace flicked open her eyes. The horse stood before her, still chewing the pine needles as though nothing had happened. Ace stared, dumbfounded, almost not knowing what to do next. Then it hit her. She had her very own horse.

The girl smiled weakly, still trying to decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Milkshake ruffled her feathers lightly with encouragement on her shoulder and Moon wagged her tail a little.

Ace gave a small tug on the lasso. The horse ceased its chewing a moment and stared own at the rope, thinking about what to do. Ace was just about to give another tug when the horse trotted a few steps forward up next to the girl.

Ace shrieked and let go of the rope, covering her eyes. After a few minutes she slowly opened them ago though, only to see that the animal had not run her over, but had simply stopped at her side. Ace smiled and reached up to touch the horses nose. The animal backed away timidly though, giving rough breaths. Ace didn't blame it.

Picking up the rope, she carefully walked back to where Adrienne was setting up the tent. She walked in on the girl, who appeared so confused about the tent, that she was about to give up. Drea saw Ace and first gave her a angry glare, but then her face lit up in amazement and she stood up to walk over to Ace.

"Whoa…" She said high and quiet, her excited voice holding a hint of jealousy. "Where, how…wow!"

Ace merely shrugged "She came to me, really,"

"Aw quit being modest!" Drea flung an arm around Ace's shoulder. She took a quick glance under the horses belly and smiled at Ace "It's a stallion, by the way,"

Drea and Ace did find their way back to the dock by nightfall, which meant putting up the tent was a waste of time. The two had been shown to the livery once back in PlainTon, where Ace kept her new horse, Shadow, for the night. Finally, they stumbled back into the Inn around 7 o'clock.

"Jezzum, I'm beat," Drea yawned, looking at her pants that were covered in mud. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Order me some meat or something,"

Watching her friend trudge upstairs, Ace sat down at a table and ordered a steak for Drea, and a plate of spaghetti for herself. Picking at the pasta, she felt a warm brush against her leg. Looking down, Missy sat at Ace's feet, yawning in delight to the return of her owner. Ace laughed as the Missy sniffed every part of her shoes and tossed the groundhog a noodle. She happily ate it, then waddled off to sleep by the fire again.

Just then, two girls entered the Inn together, being the only other people downstairs with Ace. She looked up as the door slammed loudly to see a beautiful girl with reddish brown hair that was wavy and shoulder length enter. She wore a pale blue, short dress with lace around the trim. Not fancy lace, but more of that thick cheap kind. And a perfectly colored calico cat with long fur was perched on the girl's shoulder. Next to her was, and assumingly, her friend who had frizzy white-blonde hair in a pony tail and wore a green, dust-covered shirt and jeans. She was at least 6 or 7 inches shorter than the beautiful 5 foot 5 girl, and was giggling uncontrollably with a spotted miniature donkey foal hoisted around her shoulders.

Pretty-dress-girl stood at the front desk, casually talking to the receptionist. Her mysterious straight face turned to wide, bright smile in a flash. Ace thought if she ever met her, she wouldn't trust her. Looking back at her food she pretended not to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

"…yeah it was interesting, Snowball wasn't too happy about it but, you know," The girl said, smiling, leaning up against the desk.

The reception lady laughed "Well, at least make sure Lilli knows that thing around her shoulders has to stay in the livery stable, no matter how small,"

"I'll tell her," dress girl said. Ace could've sworn she saw her eyes narrow slightly when she did. She also noticed from the way she stressed the letter 'o' gave her that northern accent. Perhaps she was from Glacier Isle.

Ace sighed before actually finishing her spaghetti, thinking about the girls, whom had now gone upstairs, and how they had actually carried on a normal conversation. Ace didn't mean to judge people before she got to know them; I guess you could say she was a little paranoid. She looked up as Drea came trotting over to the table, in her pajamas, and rubbing a towel through her damp hair.

"What's wrong?" Ace asked, noticing Drea's grumbling as she approached.

"Oh nothing its just some crazy loud short girl who came in the shower room…had a donkey over her shoulders…" Drea said, digging into her steak.


End file.
